Sunday, August 23, 2015

II 4. All The Pretty Little Horses

“You might have had fun but we just messed around with women. It wasn’t fun. I didn’t feel any thrill,” Iaosur was the first to respond.

“That’s because they were too old and ugly,” Eneizar’s statement was simply rude.

“I’m curious what do you think is pretty?”

The demons smirked and walked closer to her.

“Can you get it for us?”

Zoe chuckled, “Depends what that is.”

The demons became instantly excited. She was very curious since that was something not many knew about evil entities.

“Chocolate bubble tea and strawberry ice cream are not evil.”

They were walking aimlessly in the park. Eneizar was happily sipping from his bubble tea while Iaosur was licking his ice cream away. Zoe’s expectations lowered that day.

“When you’re living as we do, these are very rare,” Iaosur started, shaking his cone in front of her.

“Besides, how can you not find it pretty? It makes you feel all bubbly inside~” Eneizar continued.

Zoe was very disappointed. The demons whom have stalked her for more than a year were so-

“Girly. You two are so unexpectedly girly,” They scoffed and walked faster, “And so sassy. Are you even evil?”

“We make the best of our existence, unlike some other people,” Eneizar took care to emphasize the message; she got it alright. “Just because we are supposed to be evil doesn’t mean we can’t like what we find here.”

Iaosur nodded in support of his friend.

She scoffed and walked through the gap between them. It was annoying when Eneizar was getting all wise on her.

"I want to go back,"

Eneizar and Iaosur turned to her. That came out of nowhere, a few hours after they just shared words of wisdom.

"And what do you want us to do?" Iaosur tilted his head to the side and watched Zoe think. She was having a debate in her mind, from what he could see on her face.

"I only had to get that demon for Beelzebub. Now I'm free to go back, correct?"

Eneizar and Iaosur glanced at each other.

"Correct. You are free to do anything you want, Zoe. You don't have to ask us before you do something."

"Oh,"

She turned around and took a few steps before she remembered something, “How do I go back?”

The demons chuckled and nudged each other bemusedly.

"Just close your eyes and imagine the place you want to appear into."

She nodded and did that.

When she opened her eyes, she was in front of her apartment door. She caressed it with a smile on her face and walked forward, hitting her forehead against the metal.

"We're not ghosts. We can't go through walls and doors, idiot. You have to appear inside."

Eneizar and Iaosur appeared behind her just in time to get entertainment. What she did looked really dumb and not even a normal human ever did something so stupid.

Iaosur grabbed her hand which made her turn to look at him. In one fast movement, they were inside her apartment.

"Don't go,"

Eneizar raised an eyebrow when she clung to him before pushing her away.

"Don't act so innocent when you know exactly what you have become. Don't try to be a stupid human. You are already dead, even if it's not practical yet. You've always been dead but you never accepted it until now."

Eneizar's wisdom didn't touch Zoe at all but that didn't stop him from leaving with Iaosur, leaving her all alone.

It was still dark outside but it seemed like it didn't matter for her; night and day were not relevant for ghosts and dark entities. Zoe has been turning in circles and looking at her apartment for the whole time.

"It feels like everything happened just yesterday," She mumbled.

Zoe closed her eyes and imagined a normal day in her home. It used to be loud but she was happy; she could already see Ezekiel walking out of her room looking for something he lost; Rowan bickering with Iaosur and Chen on the couch; Eneizar shaking his head yet watching with amusement everything while Mehrdir would stay near the window, waiting or watching something and there was her ghost friend whom she saved yet hadn't seen in a long time. He would always nag her about the smallest things.

She opened her eyes and felt something drip down her cheeks; she was crying. Zoe bit her lip and tried to stop it trembling but instead, her whole body started to shake. She closed her eyes tightly and cried, feeling so lonely.

After she calmed down, she went to the hospital. Zoe was still not good at appearing but she managed to get in front of the hospital. She didn't have to search for long; granted to the pact he signed, it was easy to feel his energy.

She opened the door slowly and frowned when she saw her best friend connected to machines; well, he only had an IV and was sleeping peacefully. The young woman walked inside and sat on the side of the bed.

"I'm sorry, Ezekiel. It's my fault. Everything is just my fault."

She cried so much at home that she didn't have any tears left but smiled softly when she heard him breathe.

That was a sound she never thought would mean so much. Being alive was the most precious thing a human had. Life, be it rich and healthy or poor and sad, was better than death. It was better than anything; the treasure of humanity.

Zoe caressed his cheek softly and realized just how much he meant to her. Out of nowhere, she started to sing a lullaby for him; the one she used to listen to when she was young whenever she would sleep over her grandparents' house. Ezekiel couldn't see or feel her but at least, she could induce a few dreams and emotions.

Her eyes traveled to his hand and she stopped singing. He cut his right wrist in order to get enough blood for the pact. She turned it around and saw the signature; it was on his forearm. He was going to such lengths for her; he wanted to see the dark world so much.

Well, sometimes wishes do come true.

Zoe's hand shined a bright fiery color and touched his signature. Ezekiel frowned but didn't wake up while she was erasing the wounds on his arm. Even if she was going back to her body, he was still under her wing; he will always be under her wing, be it black or white.

The next morning, Ezekiel woke up in a very good mood. He moved around and realized something was on the bed. The boy frowned and looked at the head sleeping next to his hand, a firm grip on it and looking at the wall blankly.

Once he got up, she disappeared. He rubbed his eyes and realized he only saw what he wanted to see; probably from the pills.

However, while rubbing his face he noticed something on his forearm. His eyes widened and he jumped off the bed. Right then, Chen entered his room with a bright smile.

"I got the deal!" / "She woke up!" They exclaimed at the same time.

Ezekiel frowned.

"What?"

Chen nodded excitedly. Ezekiel pushed him aside and ran to her room. When he opened the door, he saw a Zoe that had color in her cheeks and life in her eyes.

"Zoe?"

She noticed him and chuckled. Her mother was inside already and was crying, believing that her daughter just experienced a miracle.

But Ezekiel could see it on Zoe’s face; she wanted her mother to leave.

"Uh- Mrs Lestrade, can I talk to her for a moment?" Her mother nodded and patted his shoulder on her way out.

"My daughter is so lucky to have found you." She said before she closed the door behind her.

"You have no idea," He mumbled.

Once he got next to her, he felt his arm stung. He looked at it and saw the same yellow color as her sign. She got the oxygen tub off her face and coughed.

"The miracle happened. I'm alive."

She was perfectly fine; like nothing ever happened in the first place. Zoe raised a little and leaned against the pillow. She didn't expect Ezekiel to jump and hug her tightly.

"Um-" She didn't know what to say so the continuation was exactly positive, "You made a pact."

"About that," He let go of her and chuckled nervously, "I thought that if you have died, that was the only way to still see you,"

She sighed and rubbed her forehead, "Zek, I was going to come back anyway. The inheritor has to die first."

He was still very happy that she came back. Chen entered a few minutes later and did the exact same thing Ezekiel did.

"So, how was it?" She raised an eyebrow, not understanding what that meant. "You know, the world down there. How was it?" Chen continued.

She rubbed her chin and tried to remember. Most of her memories became distorted after she got back in her body.

"Quite dark and blurry," That didn't explain much. "I don't remember it clearly. It's like this weird part in my mind that my brain can't comprehend. But I know for sure that I felt scared."

Ezekiel and Chen glanced worriedly at each other before turning to her.

"Why did it take you so long to sign the contract?"

Zoe clicked her tongue and tried to remember but she got a monstrous headache and stopped.

"I don't really remember. We should ask Iaosur and Eneizar."

"What about Mehrdir? Did you see him?"

That didn't happen. She didn't see him anywhere and Iaosur only led her to Eneizar. That was suspicious, actually because she could remember meeting the demons but nothing afterwards.

"Well, he is not important right now. You are." She smiled widely but something was bothering her.

"Zoe, are you alright?”

It was the second day of her hospitalization as a living patient and she was overwhelmed. Except her mother, who was 12 out of 24 hours around her, suffocating her and her friends who were coming when her mother wasn’t there, she had ghosts.

“My title doesn’t seem to help me at all,” She muttered in complete discomfort.

Ezekiel raised an eyebrow and leaned back. They still didn’t get rid of what they brought in her room.

“Why?”

She looked to the side, at the kid playing on Chen’s phone. That was the main reason why he couldn’t finish the level. On the other side, there was this cute guy who was waiting patiently for her to get him to Hell because he sinned. If being handsome was a sin, then-

“Dammit! Why can’t I finish this level! This game is stupid! I swear it’s broken!”

Her eyes moved on the kid. He didn’t seem to have any problem with explaining Chen what he was doing wrong.

“You have a kid nagging you. It seems you have to push the buttons faster and incline the phone to the side to get to the higher diamonds.” She raised a questioningly eyebrow before continuing, “You’re playing Cookie Monster.”

Chen narrowed his eyes at her and brought the phone close to his chest.

“Don’t judge what you can’t understand.” He said warily.

She sighed and turned to the handsome guy, “I’m not an angel and your sin is not too important. Go look for an angel somewhere.”

The handsome ghost disappeared, thankfully. She sighed heavily and laid her head back.

“This is even worse than before,” She groaned.

“Oh, by the way. Isn’t it very silent?”

Ezekiel and Zoe looked curiously at Chen.

“In what way silent? There are hundreds of ghosts in this hospital”

“But where is Andy? You had him around right? And where are the demons? They haven’t appeared in six months.”

That was a good question. Ezekiel was wondering the same thing.

“Eneizar’s deal ended. He can come and go as he wants. Iaosur doesn’t seem to have a reason to come by anymore since he doesn’t have a contractor anymore. Mehrdir’s been missed in action and I don’t know anything about Andrew.”

She just finished her explanation when the door to her room opened.

“Excuse me but who are you?” Ezekiel’s question was like an echo; it was that silent.

The man smirked and looked at Zoe from across the room. His eyes were familiar; that annoying and proud smirk was familiar, as well. Her eyes widened and she straightened her position on the bed when she figured who that man resembled.